Toy inventory

Last year we did an inventory of all the toys we had. It was one of my favorite blog post. It was nice to see what we had and I wanted to do it again this year.

One of the big difference is this year, Madeleine doesn't play with as many toys. She has favorites and plays with them for hours. We are lucky enough that when she grows out of them that we have plenty of younger friends to pass them onto. At this point, we don't really need a toy rotation either. All of these fit in Madeleine's room and she is responsible enough not to trash her room. On the occations that friends come over and everything gets dumped out, it takes me less than 10 minutes to clean everything up and about 20 for her. It's a good balance right now.

List of Madeleine's toys 

1. Train set

2. Two waldorf dolls

3. Sophie

4. Tiny purple baby

5. Two bears

6. Two puzzles

7. Knobbed cylinders puzzles

8. Wooden rocket

9. Wooden plane

10. Three wood trucks

11. Chemistry blocks (in green bucket)

12. Geeky blocks (in green bucket)

13. Drawing board thing

14. Doll house

15. Duplos (120)

16. Wool ball

17. Tin tea set

18. Dissecting doll

19. Doll stroller

20. Kitchen

21. Rodie

22. Bead set thing

In full disclaimer, we do have two small containers of toys that Madeleine doesn't play with for friends that aren't her age. We have a shoe box of playmobiles and small box for tiny babies. They rarely come out though.

Madeleine spends a lot of her time playing outside. Her dolls and bears go with her almost everywhere. The white bear is her bear and the "pink" bear is the bear that her friends play with. The knobbed cylinders are one of the most frequently played with toys. Madeleine uses them for play food and I have also seen them used as logs on the back of the trucks or just lined up across the floor.

I love watching her play. She's getting more creative. She "reads" books to her dolls and likes playing nap time. Her duplos recenty have been rockets and blocks have been used to build houses.

It's been awesome. Can't wait to see next years photo.

Weekend Road Trip

All the way back in January, I found out I would get this weekend off. Even though it was Pi Day (a big celebration here in Princeton), I really wanted to go on a road trip. We were planning on going to Boston until the morning that we were suppose to leave. The weather wasn't looking too great and I had to be back by a reasonable hour to work on Monday. So I sent Matt off to work, while I scrambled to get everything together and plan a new trip. DC is always our default since it's only 3 hours away, we have family there, and everything is more or less free. 

I like themes for our trips so I picked bookstores and Spring.

Madeleine and I picked Matt up at 4 and off we went to our first stop - Bethleham, PA to see the oldest bookstore in the US and the 2nd oldest in the world.

Moravian was pretty neat. It was big and had a great children's selection, but at the same time I would have never guessed it was that old. It wasn't cozy and everything felt pretty new. We read a book or two before heading off to find some food.

Just a few blocks down we found a place called Cachette. It didn't look really child friendly, but it was a crepe shop, which really isn't that fancy? I don't know. I hate that some people can't stand kids. Lucky for us, this place got the food out quick and Madeleine was happy. All of us could not get enough of the fries. I'm not usually one rave about food but these fries were amazing. Seasoned fries with melted gruyere on top and thick cut bacon sprinkled throughout it. To top it off, there was some amazing cheese dip. It made me question why ketchup was ever invented. We poked around in a few more shops that were close by, before getting in the car and crashing in DC.

The next morning we headed downtown to the Smithsonian. Madeleine and I had never really explored the Museum in Natural History, because she wasn't really interested in animals. Lately though, she's been obsessed so I wanted to let her explore it a bit. We covered most of the museum fairly quickly. (Madeleine points to a raccoon, "Meow, Meow" and then runs down the exhibit until she found something else she recognized.) But we ended up spending the most time in the exploration room. Madeleine got on a tiny lab coat and spent plenty of time exploring different bones and textures. It was really cute. 

One of the exhibits I wish we spent more time in.

We stopped for lunch (I got a brie, turkey, and spicy honey mustard sandwich that I'm going to try to duplicate at home) before trekking over to the National Botanical Gardens. It was the spring part of our trip.  None of us had been there before. It was beautiful but the best part was the way it smelled. In the main room, there were citrus blossoms everywhere. Madeleine's favorite part was the fountains. 

The Air and Space museum was on the way back to the car so we popped in a little bit so Madeleine could see some "Ahmes". It was really busy though so we didn't stay long.

After that we headed home and spent some time with family. It was quite nice, and we even got Madeleine to bed early enough for Matt and me to have a date!! I was SO excited. Matt doesn't really do the whole babysitter thing, so the last time we were out alone was in November when his parents were out visiting. I had actually planned a date just in case we got the chance. We went to Kramerbooks and Afterwords. It had to meant to be, because despite the fact that it was St. Patrick's Day weekend and a Saturday night, we found parking right in front of the store. I was pretty pleased. 

Anyway, this bookstore was exactly what I like bookstores to be. It was busy, slightly crowded and covered floor to ceiling in books. They only had one or two copies of each book letting the "small" store have a wonderful collection. They didn't have any of the children's books I was looking for, but I found several that I want to check out at the library. Matt and I also got some dessert at the cafe - goober pie and some chocolate cake. It was a perfect night.

The next morning, we woke up said goodbye to family before heading home. I had planned one short stop on the way home. It's this place called The Book Thing. It's a nonprofit organization in Baltimore that runs a free bookstore. I wanted to go so bad, and it was barely off of our route.

It didn't disappoint. It was much bigger and more organized than I expected. We could have spent much longer than we did except we needed to get home. I'm going to save some of our books we are going to get rid of and drop them off when we go back down in May. 

We got home by noon and ran by church to catch the end.

How do you plan trips? Matt thought I was a bit crazy to plan around bookstores, but the trip was exactly what I wanted. 

Mornings

6:30 Wake up

Meditate til 6:40

Scripture study and prayer to 6:50

Make bed

Shower while the other cleans

Breakfast

Matt leaves for work at 7:40

Then I do whatever I need to until Madeleine wakes up around 8:30 or Baby X comes. Then I start a totally different routine.

We set this up a while ago and it works really well. It's not too rushed and everything gets done. I found cleaning (especially dishes) before bed just makes me go to bed late. I'm more of a morning person so getting up and cleaning is way easier for me. Matt isn't a morning person, but we found our version of mediating (10 minutes of silent and still cuddling) gives him a little bit of time to wake up. It's so much easier than trying to get him out of bed. He eats leftovers for lunch so it's usually already packed. Our goal is to get up even earlier so we can exercise in the morning, but we are still getting use to daylight savings. 

Weekly Rhythm

We are at the point that we have a weekly rhythm. A rhythm is different from a schedule because it's a bit more flexible. Ours seem to change season to season a bit.

Can I just say we are so ready for spring? I just set up my first play date in weeks and of course Madeleine had to throw up tonight. Madeleine is going stir crazy too. The second Baby X leaves and the door shuts, Madeleine is grabbing her shoes to go outside.

Spring is coming though. The first baby calves were born at our dairy farm this week and next week is supposed to be mostly in the 40s. I'm SO excited.

But back to the weekly rhythm. This is what we got.

Monday - Laundry

Tuesday - Making snacks

Wednesday - Baking

Thursday - Library/ Farmer's market 

Friday - Play date

Saturday - Errands

Sunday - Family day

I like our rest of the year schedule a bit better. The farmer's market near us is only open once a month in the winter so we have to drive to the one 5 miles away. The nice thing is it's in the large local dairy's parking lot. So we get to grab milk and cheese too. The prices are also a lot cheaper. But I like grocery shopping during the week better, its less crowded and I'm not so tired from doing all the errands. 

But I think some rhythm is much better than none. I'm a lot happier when I don't have to plan out most of my week. Also, Monday (laundry), Friday (play group), and Sunday (church) we automatically have social activities. It's nice knowing that I will see other moms and hang out with them at least 3 times a week with little effort.. 

I have a daily rhythm and a cleaning schedule that goes a long with our weekly schedule. The cleaning one is very lose since our home is so small. I'll try to share it sometime. 

So my question of course is do you have a weekly rhythm or schedule? How did you set it? Does it change throughout the year? 

Life Update

I'm counting the days down for winter to end. We haven't had almost any snow. There is about 4 inches in the backyard and 2 in the front, but it's been cold! Yesterday morning it was 2 degrees when we woke up! The first signs of spring are coming though. The sun is now waking up with me and it is no longer dark at 4:30. Thank goodness that was my least favorite part of winter. We can actually bike every once in a while now again.

We have been sick literally all winter. Right now Baby X and Madeleine have a very mild cold. We have a system going. Baby X gets it first. Then Madeleine a few days later, and right when Baby X gets better, I get sick. Usually right before I get better, he is already sick again. It's a bit strange for me, since usually we only get whatever sickness is in the neighborhood (which isn't much). But since Baby X has an older sister, we also seem to be getting more of the daycare sicknesses. 

Other changes, Baby X is mobile, and Madeleine has dropped her nap! I'm hoping in Spring, she'll start napping again. She's so tired by 3:30, but she refuses to nap. I think more outside play will cure it though. That's been killing my free time during the day.

Things that are going on.

I'm hosting my first book club meeting tomorrow! I'm so excited. The first book I chose was Geisha: A Life. 10 people are supposedly coming. I'm going to borrow chairs from our community room since we got rid of most of our seating. I have a long list of discussion questions and some food. I think we'll have a good time!

I started a knitting class at the local community program. I went to one class so far and finished my first project. I'm going to have to practice a lot to get any good. Maybe one day I'll get as good as this man who knits for penguins.

My first project was fingerless gloves.

Matt got me Season 5 of Boy meets World so we've been watching that. It's so weird to me how different sex and beauty standards are in this show. In one episode, Topanga spends a week at Cory's house for Christmas. Cory is her boyfriend of 15 years they say at this point? And she packs a mumu!!! You can't tell in the photo below, but that's the scene in which she wears it. Talk about the most unsexy pjs ever. And the funny thing is when she wakes him up at 3 am to talk, he at first was hoping it was for something a little less innocent. 

 We have also been watching Friends. We aren't getting into it as much. I'm starting to realize, I like Friends episodes in random order. Watching them in order causes a lot more yelling at the characters, but thanks to What are you look at? 150 years of Modern Art, we were able to figure out the painting in Chandler's office.

Kandisky - On White II

I bet your life is complete now right? ;)

I'll let you know how my book club goes.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

This week has been a hard week. With a sick Baby X and muggy weather, I was more than a little relieved when his mother called and said she was going to keep him home yesterday.

Madeleine and I used this free day to go the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was wonderful of course. There was almost no one there, so Madeleine and I spent 4 hours wandering around. We saw Monets, Van Gogh's, knights' armor, Rocco rooms, just to name a few. After finishing this book, I enjoyed being here even more.

Admiring Van Goghw 

The best part of this day wasn't looking at the art though. It actually was eating lunch. After finishing the painting galleries, Madeleine and I went down to the cafeteria for some food. We grabbed some great mac and cheese and chicken and some pretty gross soup, and sat down next to another toddler and her mom. We said hi to them before sitting down and started to eat (I've been trying to get better at talking to other moms).

 After a few minutes, the mom and I were actually talking! Goal achieved!! We talked about why we were here, (I needed a place for Madeleine to run around, and she missed a class that her daughter was supposed to go to.) and I mentioned that I usually am watching Baby X. She stopped at looked at me, and said, "Wow, you are so put together how do you do it?"

 This was probably totally inappropriate, but I started laughing. I explained to her that I absolutely didn't, and just last night I sat in bed eating pizza in bed crying because the day was so stressful. I told her any day that I get a bra on is considered a good day. She looked at me relieved, and started telling me about how she's pregnant with her second kid. She said she was struggling with having her first kid, and having two just seemed hard. Our conversation after that was wonderful and just what I needed. We swapped numbers and said goodbye.

You know made me realize two things. 

1) I can actually make friends if I put forth effort.

2) It reminded me that most people aren't as put together as they looked. Usually I'm pretty good about remembering this, but  I think I've been forgetting more lately.

Ted Talks

This year has been so busy! Way different than I thought it would be at the beginning of the year. Funny how 3 weeks can change so much. But the biggest change is...

Matt got his Masters! Woohoo! 

Since he is getting his PhD, there wasn't any formal celebration, so we made him a hat and celebrated at home. He did great and I'm so glad his hard work paid off. 

On other notes, our new year resolutions are paying off. One of the ones has been walking up early. Most people clean there home before bed, but I'm so exhausted that I have found cleaning in the morning is a bit easier. Most of the house only takes about 15 minutes to clean and then I head to the kitchen to do dishes. Without a dishwasher, dishwashing usually takes quite a bit of time, around 45 minutes.

I love this time, and I usually put on Ted talks. I love Ted talks. I started to listen to Ted talks in college (while washing dishes) and I absolutely love them. I've heard several hundred, and I wanted to share some of my favorites.

My very favorite is this one by Andrew Solomon on depression. It is sad, but I loved the insight that I gained from listening to it. He defines and shows how depression is a mental illness.

http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_depression_the_secret_we_share

While this is not the most entertaining Ted talk, I think Jimmy Wales, founder of wikipedia, is a good listen. I use wikipedia all the time, and I love hearing how it works and what they stand for. He is not the most entertaining speaker so it might seem a little long.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia

I'm not a fan Eat, Pray, Love but Elizabeth Gilbert's talk on creativity is brilliant. I refer to her talk regularly in conversations and it has changed how I view creativity and failure.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?language=en

This one is just quirky. Pam Warhurst talks about how she turned her town into a farm. I love how it shows community coming together and how a few people can make big changes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/pam_warhurst_how_we_can_eat_our_landscapes

I don't know who Amanda Palmer is, but her talk The Art of Asking is great message. She talks about how people are willing to give and help and all you need to do is ask. I love this message partly because she shows how people are usually good.

http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking?language=en

And last is Sarah Kay's slam poetry. I actually liked it enough that I bought her book with this poem in it. It's lovely and powerful.

https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter?language=en

Do you have any favorite Ted talks? I'm always up for suggestions. And if you don't, you should check some of these out and let me know what you think. 

Polar Express

This year as part of our minimalizing our stuff project, Matt and I decided to buy a few experiences instead of a lot of gifts. I stumbled across a Polar Express train ride just 30 minutes from our home. Madeleine is obsessed with trains, and I thought that would be a great birthday gift for our December baby. On top of that, the Polar Express is one of my favorite children's Christmas books.

This is what the groupon photo looked like

We had been to the town that it was in before - New Hope, Pennsylvania, but it was all lit up for Christmas and was so pretty.  The train station was in the middle of all the shops. We could see a children's museum right across the tracks that we're going to have to visit soon. Just like the book, we dressed Madeleine up in pjs and a coat. It was cold, but Madeleine kept herself warm by running up and down the station. At one point she found a broken carousal horse and rode on it for a bit.

Right around 8:15, we heard a train whistle in the distance. Everyone ran to the tracks and cheered as the train came. I think my favorite part of the night was watching Madeleine's face as she saw the train. She was so excited and kept saying "Choo, choo!" over and over again.

The trains are restored 1920's steam trains. The lighting was so dark and there was only space heaters for heating, but none the less, it was really cool! Everything was decked out for Christmas.

We got on the last car on the train, but for some reason Santa and Mrs. Clause visited our train first. Madeleine isn't a fan of Santa. She'll only look at the Santa area at the mall from the second floor. She loves the lights but not the man. So when this poor Santa finally made it to our bench, Madeleine crossed her arms and glared at him. There was a free photo with Santa as part of the package, but we just told him we'd pass on that. Mrs. Clause slipped us a bell in a red bag and told us to ring it on Christmas. Believe me though, that thing has been ringing all the time since we got it.

The rest of the night went much better. A local guitar player came and sang Christmas songs with the kids, while the elves passed out cookies. The older kids in our car were really into it and kept the songs going most of the ride.

Not sure about the hot chocolate

 One of the last visitors on the train was the ticket master. It was pretty official. He punched our cards and everything.

 Shortly after he stopped by, Madeleine discovered that her window could open. She spent the last bit of the train ride with her head or hand out the window. Right before the ride was over though, she strolled down the aisle saying hi to everyone. Even though the train only went 20 miles hour, she was remarkably steady.

She fell asleep a few minutes after we put her in the car, and Matt and I both think it was pretty successful. She was so happy.

Sick week

It's always interesting to me how different weeks are when we are sick. All things on the calendar, fun and not so fun, disappear. Suddenly, there is a lot more time for cuddles and movies. Oh and free time in a confine space with no one to visit. 

It's about a close to a break I get as a mom (and thank goodness since I had an unexpected root canal this week!). Madeleine no longer gets her shoes to play at the park. Instead, she snuggles next to me on the bed with a book. Meals don't have to be fancy, and snack tends to be hot chocolate or bagels. Matt even took this week a bit easier. He was home most nights by 7 and asleep by 8.

Since I was the only one feeling well, I tried a few new things.

I tried out this recipe which was perfectly yummy. It's kind of weird thinking that in April I had kale for the first time, and now we eat a variety of greens regularly.

I also tried this one. I think it needs a bit of tweaking, but surprisingly Madeleine loved it.

We went to the library Wednesday night. I browsed through the non-fiction and picked up this book. I'm on chapter 6 and I kind of feel that fate brought this book to me. It's exactly what I felt like reading during this rainy week.

I organized the kitchen and went through Madeleine's clothes.

I read this book and wasn't very impressed.

I started a facebook group about zero-waste lifestyle!

Hopefully in the next few days everyone will be back to 100%, but until then, this pause has been nice.

Added Sugar

That's how much added sugar we eat in a week.

I calculated it by taking out all the healthy (fruits and veggies) and homemade foods from this blog post.

The total amount of sugar is 936 grams (4.16 cups), which is 53.5 grams of sugar a day. The recommended amount is 35 grams. Clearly we are a little high.

This is the next area in our lives we are going to work on. We are planning to take on healthy eating next year for our New Year's resolution.

I can't wait!